Deaths rise at nursing homes in evacuations

Melbourne facility has emergency plans set

12:06 AM,
Nov. 19, 2012

Ibry Smith, right, falls as he helps Norma Rankins, 73, center, out of a boat after they were rescued from a nursing home in the 9th Ward Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, in New Orleans. (AP FILE Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Irwin Thompson)

Written by

Janice Lloyd
USA Today

A new study about nursing home evacuations during hurricanes exposes grave consequences suffered by the most vulnerable residents and flaws within government guidelines for the relocations.

But local nursing homes say advance preparations they have in place, some of which are required by Florida law, ease the strain a storm and potential evacuation may cause its residents.

A 218 percent increase in the mortality of residents with severe dementia is cited in a three-year study of 21,255 residents living in nursing homes along the Gulf Coast within 30 days of an evacuation, and a 158 ...